Re: New Bourbon Drinker

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of Ed (pepcycle) I am enjoying a generous pour of Ezra Brooks 15yo Single Barrel. I am enjoying my drink in my new Riedel bourbon glass. I must say that, while I expected this to be nice based on comments heard here, I am blown away by this one. Easily the best bourbon to come out of Heaven Hill IMHO. Thick caramel and Vanilla notes with some pleasant woodiness. I'll be exploring this one some more. And the best thing is, I just found a new stash just waiting for the picking. Oh happy day!

Quote is from another thread that won't permit a reply for some reason, but as a new bourbon drinker, Ezra B. Single Barrel 15 yr is the best bourbon by far that I have tried to date. But I have a question about the Heaven Hill remark. The bottle says "Bottled by Ezra Brooks Distilling Co. St. Louis, Mo". I assume that means that Ezra Brooks buys bourbon from a distiller and then bottles it under the Ezra Brooks name. Right? So Ezra Brooks is distilled by Heaven Hill distillery and bottled by Ezra Brooks, right?

And other Heaven Hill brand names are Evan Williams and Elijah Craig, right? Am I missing any thing? I already like Elijah Craig 12 yr very much. Can I expect the other Elijah Craig and the Evan Williams brands to be similar to the Ezra Brooks?

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

Ezra Brooks is a David Sherman Corp. product. DSC does not distill, as you have guessed, but buys product and bottles it in St. Louis. They also market Rebel Yell, Yellowstone, Wathens, Bourbon Supreme and other niche brands. Others here, I'm sure, can confirm/dispel that the Ezra B. bourbon is distilled by Heaven Hill. I don't know about that.

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

I'm sure, can confirm/dispel that the Ezra B. bourbon is distilled by Heaven Hill. I don't know about that.

Originally it was a Yellowstone product. Since the Louisville Yellowstone plant ceased in 1990 + -, the plant at Owensboro went longer than that. At 15 years I'm inclined to think that it may still be Yellowstone whiskey. However not knowing the details of the sale , David Sherman may only have bought the labels, and had to go shopping right away, Most times they get enough product to support the brand for a number of years.

Otherwise Heaven Hill comes up in these discussions due to the fact that they are in the bulk whiskey business. From time to time when someone shows up with Labels , and no distillery, the assumption is that they got their whiskey from Heaven Hill. Barton and Beam do have excess capacity. They both sold bulk in the past. Some say one or both is no longer doing it.
We'll never know , they won't say.

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

Well, my tasting experience continues. I have settled in here in Salt Lake City for the winter. I will be skiing almost every day. (I know it is a tough job, but someone has to do it.) Anyway, my tasting had sort of stalled because I didn't want to move a lot of opened bottles to SLC. But I arrived here on December 12 and have opened several bottles since then. My tasting impressions are as follows.

WT Kentucky Spirit - Good example of Wild Turkey, but I think the Russell's Reserve is as good or better and at a lot less expense. I would like to try this one side by side with Russell's Reserve.

Elijah Craig 18 yr SB - Excellent whiskey. Full of flavor. No alcohol bite. Nice long finish. I have set this one aside for those special times.

WL Weller 12 yr - Good whiskey. Slight resemblance to Van Winkle 12 yr but not as robust. Not as much flavor as Elijah Craig 12 yr. The level in this bottle dropped pretty fast which indicates a very "drinkable" whiskey.

Blanton's SB - Second try for this one. Full bottle this time. This whiskey still has a strange cedar flavor. Not as much peppermint as the first taste, but still that dry, cedar impression. It does have a full body and a long warm finish. But it has a "pepper" tingle from alcohol and it is not nearly as flavorful as Elijah Craig 12 yr. Sorry, I just don't get it.

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

WT Kentucky Spirit - Good example of Wild Turkey, but I think the Russell's Reserve is as good or better and at a lot less expense. I would like to try this one side by side with Russell's Reserve.

Those are the EXACT feelings I have expressed about KY Spirit as well. In my opinion, while still being a good pour, it does not justify a more than double cost over RR which I like better anyways. Better for me I guess!

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

Well, I have tried two more bourbons. (Not the whole bottles.)

Eagle Rare Single Barrel, 10 yr, 90 proof. (The tall, thin bottle.) This is a pleasant bourbon, but sort of bland. It has a nice mouth feel and is smooth and mellow. I get some oak in the nose and the taste and maybe some vanilla. Not too sweet and not too dry. It has a nice long finish with warmth on the tongue and cheeks.

Old Rip Van Winkle 15 yr, 107 proof. I get fruit, wood, vanilla and maybe caramelized sugar in the nose. Nice dark amber color and a full body with a nice mouth feel. On the sweet side, smooth with minimal alcohol bite. Finish is very long and warm with a persistent tingle on the lips, tongue and cheeks. This is definitely worth a repeat if I can find another bottle.

Re: New Bourbon Drinker

Those are two very nice bourbon's by my standards. A few months back while at my friends house I kept comparing Eagle Rare 10yo Single Barrel with Eagle Rare 10yo 101 Proof and I had a very tough time picking which one I liked better. In the end I chose the 101 proof to be a little more to my liking and being a tad cheaper than the single barrel helped too. Try that one Jim if you haven't already.

What else can one say about Old Rip Van Winkle 15yo! A superb bourbon that I always pick up while in KY because of its lower price there ($35 compared to near $45-$50 here). I have been meaning to open a new bottle and you just decided for me which one I will open.